Importers and Exporters in Ghana have made a call on government to put in stringent measures at the ports to halt illegal fees charged by some port officials.

According to them, some port officials use unauthorized means to extort money from importers when clearing goods at the ports.

Government recently scrapped the one percent special import levy in the 2017 budget. This is among eight other taxes government has abolished.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Samson Asaaki Awingobit said government should take immediate action to halt the illegal charges.

“If Government has stated in the 2017 budget that some levies have been abolished and you go to the shipping line and there are certain charges termed as illegal charges then why did government decide to abolish certain taxes?,” he asked.

“If you compare the Ghanaian shipping charges with that of Nigeria and Togo you will first ask yourself what are these charges all about because if the central government is trying to reduce taxes and at the end of the day there is a mandatory deposit of 500 cedis because you are taking the shipping line container to go and deduct, then it’s a problem,” he added.

Mr. Asaaki stated that “that mandatory 500 cedis that is not refunded to an importer is illegal.

He appealed to government to do everything possible to enforce some of the tax cuts for the benefit of the economy.

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